There is conventionally a system capable of observing an image sensed with a video camera from multiple remote points, which can not only observe the camera image but also remote-control the pan and tilt angles and zoom magnification of the camera. For example, as disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-42279, a system has been proposed, in which a computer-controllable camera is connected through a WWW (World Wide Web) server on the Internet, and not only a real-time image sensed with the camera is distributed to one or more personal computers (PCs) connected to the Internet but also the PCs are allowed to control the camera.
Such an image distribution system capable of controlling the camera and distributing an image to a plurality of PCs (clients) has as its primary object to provide a real-time image. Hence, an image at a specific timing in the past cannot be seen later. To see the image in the past later, the operator must operate to sense the image by the camera, convert the image into a predetermined format, and record it in a secondary storage device on the WWW server in advance. The image thus recorded can be seen later through the Internet using a Web browser.
Hence, to allow the WWW server to distribute an image in order to provide the image recorded in the past, an operation is necessary, in which the operator operates to sense the image by the camera, convert the sensed image data into compressed digital data browsable on the Internet, and store the data in the WWW server. This requires labor as well as operation skill of the camera operator.